This invention is related to repair tools for the repair of damaged automobile bodies, and is more particularly related to repair tools for repairing damaged portions having open edges such as quarter panels and wheel wells of automobile bodies.
In the past, automobiles included a frame to which components of the body were attached. If a portion of the body was damaged, it could be replaced, or if it was to be repaired, a jack or pry bar could be placed between the frame and the damaged portion, and force applied to bend the damaged portion back to a normal shape. However, in many modern automobiles the body members are welded together in a unit body construction such that there is no frame against which a pry bar or jack may be positioned. If a hook or bar is used to apply pulling force to a damaged portion of a unit body, the body will yield at the point where the force is applied, resulting in a bulge or wrinkle in the body at the point of repair.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,850,073 issued Mar. 22, 1932 to Countryman for Automobile Repair Tool discloses a repair tool for straightening a fender or other parts of the body of an automobile. The Countryman device includes a part having means for holding the tire of a wheel, a part having means for gripping a fender, and means for moving the parts with relationship to each other for applying a longitudinal force for straightening the fender. The means for gripping the fender includes an arm having a slot for receiving the work to be operated on, and a pivoted leg which cooperates with one side of the slot for gripping and holding within the slot, the article worked upon.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,881 issued May 11, 1971 to Markovics for Portable Highway Crash Rescue Unit discloses a portable rescue unit which includes a base leg, a vertical actuated arm pivotally mounted to the base, an elongated power unit extending from the base to the side of the actuating arm including a support abutment adapted to engage the vehicle frame, and a cable or chain having either a hook or a door piercing spike on its end. in use, the hook or spike is engaged with a door post or door, and the power unit is activated to pull the door post outward or pry open the door to facilitate the extraction of a victim from a wrecked vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,108,629 issued Oct. 29, 1963 to Jenkins for Body Clamp discloses a clamp which may be clamped by locking means to an automobile body to allow repair pulls to be made to a damaged automobile body. In use, two of the disclosed body clamps may be used in combination with standard tools found in automobile repair garages, to repair damaged automobile bodies having a unit welded body which requires stretching along a side-to-side line, or along a forward-to-rearward line by pushing or pulling one side relative to an opposing side. The body clamp of the Jenkins patent is used to anchor one side relative to the opposing side, so that the opposing side may be restored to its normal shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,165,504 issued July 11, 1939 to Pfauser for Portable Hydraulic Metal Straightening Machine discloses a machine which utilizes a hydraulic ram to force various parts apart or together, as the case may be, to straighten or reshape bent or deformed frames, bodies, fenders, etc. FIG. 11 of the Pfauser patent discloses an embodiment having a hydraulic ram blocked on one side and spaced from a metal piece to be straightened, a member positioned behind the metal piece, and a chain hooked in slots in the member and passing over the ram such that when the ram is extended the chain pulls the member, thereby, applying straightening force to the metal piece.
Other U.S. Patents which show the state of the art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,367,818 issued Feb. 8, 1921 to Kennedy for Metal Working Tool; 2,352,703 issued July 4, 1944 to Fries, Jr. for Expander; 2,788,831 to Weiner for Apparatus for Straightening Metallic Vehicle Bumpers; 2,764,215 issued Sept. 25, 1956 to Adams et al. for Wheel Straightening Attachment; 3,501,941 issued Mar. 24, 1970 to Long for Straightener for Posts and the Like; 3,625,046 issued Dec. 7, 1971 to Van Gompel for Apparatus and Method for Straightening Deformed Rolls of Sheet Stock; 4,000,639 issued Jan. 4, 1977 to Postema for Tool and Method for Trueing Wheel Rims; and 4,358,946 issued Nov. 16, 1982 to Gallart for Power Tool.